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llllnnnw lllll l Il HUH ff Mil! I# AM. PHOTO-LITHQ. 0. NY (OSEORN E'SPRDCESS) UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

GEORGE I. WASI-IBURN,

OF IORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND ANSON L. HOBART.

BRICK-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 18,226, dated September 15, 185'?.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEO. I. VVASHBURN, of IVorcester, in the county ofIVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulMachine for Molding Bricks and Depositing Them on the Ground to be Driedfit-hout the Labor of Handling Them, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is aplan; Fig. 2 a longitudinal section on the line a5, m, of Fig. l; Fig. 3a transverse vertical section on the line y, y of F ig. l; Fig. l detailto be referred to.

In brick making a considerable item of labor and expense is the work ofthe off bearer or person who carries the molded brick from the inolderto a smooth piece of ground nearby, where the bricks are laid down eachby it-self to dry and harden before they are taken to the kiln.

The object of my present invention is to dispense with the labor of theolf bearer;7 and reduce the expense of brick making; this I have done bythe peculiar construction of my improved molding and o bearing 7 machinethe construction and operation of which I will now proceed to describe,that others skilled in the art may understand the manner in which I havecarried out my invention.

In the drawings A, is the carriage supported by the wheels B, andintended to be moved over the ground by a horse drawing in the shafts C,the lower part of the carriage in front of the axle, resting upon theground as at a Fig. 2. On the top of this carriage A is secured a hopperD, in which the tempered clay is placed, it is constructed with a guidec, (Fig. 3) which rests upon the edge of the carriage and deiiects theclay off toward the sides so that it passes down through the openingsZ), in the sides of the carriage through a spout F, to the mold E, as itpasses beneath the outlet d, of the spout. To prevent this outlet at CZ,from being broken away by small stones or other obstructions I have madethe rear lip at e, movable, it is pivoted at f to the back of the spoutF, and is held up by a spring g which bears against it.

I will now explain the construction of the molds and the manner in whichthey are filled while they remain stationary upon the ground and thehopper passes over them.

Near each end of the carriage A, and running in suitable bearings in itare the drums G which carry the endless belt of molds E. These molds areconstructed and attached together in the following manner Each mold isformed as shown in Fig. 4- the central rectangular space at L, is thecavity for the reception of the clay; the ends of the mold E project ateach end at k and are furnished with pins z' z" placed above and below ahorizontal plane passing through the middle of the mold-on the inside ofthe projecting ends 7c, are the grooves my, and on the opposite side ofthe mold are two pins Z, which fit in the grooves m, of the next mold E,of the series. The carriage A is formed of two sides or planks, one ofwhich is shown in elevation in Fig. 2, on the inner face of this are cutgrooves n, '0, which run into one groove 79, near the lower side of thecarriage; a switch r is placed at the junction of the grooves n, and 0,with one end of the groove p. The pins i of the molds E traverse in thegroove o, and the pins z" in the grooves n.

The molds are all joined together forming a continuous belt as seen inFig. 1 (a portion of them being removed from Fig. 2 to show the groovesn and 0) which travels in the direction of the arrow over the drums G,the pins z' z" occupying their respective grooves (Fig. 2) until at eachmold E reaches a position at the lower side of the carriage beneath thespout F, and receiving its charge of clay, when these pins enter thesingle inclined groove p by which means the molds are raised from theground with the sides or faces of the mold kept in a perpendicularposition until the pin strikes the switch r. This switch which is formedas shown in Fig. 2 is pivoted to the inner face of the carriage at s ina recess at the end of the grooves n and 0 and has a point 1 at itsfront side and two projections 2 and 8 at the rear end, so that as thepin z' passes up the groove j? to enter the groove 0, it strikes theshoulder 2 of the switch and vibrates it so as to throw the point lacross the groove 0, the switch is then in position to guide the pin z"into the groove n, and as this pin enters its groove it strikes theshoulder 3 and throws the switch back again, thus leading the pinsalternately into their respective grooves.

As the spout F passes over the molds, the latter remain stationary uponthe ground, and while they are in this position, two rollers b placedbetween the sides of the spout F and the carriage A (they are seendotted in Fig. 2 and in section in Fig. 3) bear upon the upper edges ofthe molds and hold them immovably to the surface of the ground. Therollers Z2 are carried on an axle having bearings in slots in the sidesof the carriage A, which axle is held down by springs u, placed overthem. By this arrangement the molds are allowed to accommodatethemselves to any slight inequalities of the surface of the ground,while they are pressed down upon it by a portion of the weight of themachine, a preponderance of weight being placed in front of the axle.

The sides of the carriage A are cut away on the lower side from a to oand the inclined groove p runs out to the outer edge of the side at o toallow the molds to be slipped into place and be joined together byentering the pins Z of one block into the groovesm of the next one.

The operation of this machine is as follows: The tempered clay is placedin the hopper D and the machine is drawn in the direction of the arrow 5over the ground on which the molded bricks are to be left to dry,

the clay passes down through the passages b and spout F, to the moldwhich is at the moment beneath it, the friction of the molds upon theground being sufficient to cause the endless belt of blocks to revolveover the drums G, in the direction of their arrows, Fig. 2, and as eachmold is filled, the pins z' z" enter and ascend the inclined groove p,by which the mold is raised from the ground in the proper position asbefore stated, and the molded brick is left upon the surface in therequired place for it to dry without being handled. As the molds ascendthe groove p, the pins t' i strike alternately against the switch 7" andenter their respective grooves 0 and n by which they are again guidedaround over the drums G. L

By the above simple machine Iam enabled to mold the bricks and at thesame time deposit them in the required position on the ground where theyare to be dried.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

The combination with the molds E, of the frame A, and hopper D,constructed, arranged, and operating together, substantially in themanner, and for the purpose herein described.

GEO. I. WASHBURN.

Witnesses CHAs. W ASHBURN, A. NEWBURY.

